Author: Norman Leahy

The curious effort to use Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to bar Donald Trump from running for a second term is still plugging along, but it’s having to do so without the support of what some might have assumed would be the effort’s natural political allies: Democratic secretaries of state. According to Politico, these officials either don’t believe they have such authority – which in itself is a refreshing admission from any elected official – or that this is a matter for the courts to decide: “The United States Supreme Court is the appropriate place to resolve this issue.…

The Biden administration has committed the U.S. government to reach a host of carbon emissions goals over the next several years. While these goals were set using executive orders (which are only as good as the next occupant of the White House), a broader net zero emissions program, established in 2021, addresses how the entire U.S. economy can reach the magic net zero target by mid-century. The exact cost of such a move has always been fuzzy, and the specific, permanent changes in how we live and work needed to reach these goals have been even more obscure. The International…

There’s a feud within the GOP that has tongues and fingers wagging. The opposing sides: the fans, defenders, and true believers in Ronald Reagan’s conservative legacy and their equally fervent counterparts who’ve enlisted in the populist ranks of Donald Trump. It’s the sort of feud that doesn’t have ripples much beyond those most directly involved. But that doesn’t mean it’s not entertaining – and perhaps even enlightening for the rest of to watch. As Politico’s David Siders reported from an event at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California: For at least some members of the [Reagan Foundation] board, the…

As the political class slinks almost inevitably towards a government shutdown, there will be consequences far beyond simply closing down national parks and assorted government offices. There are the political consequences, of course. Traditionally, that’s meant Republicans getting the blame in the press, if not necessarily at the polls. There are economic consequences too, which reach far beyond the employment prospects of a handful of politicians. The Congressional Research Service issued a report on the economic effects of shutdowns, and it ought to be informative reading for those stunt pols who think it’s A-OK to close up shop to make…

If we ever needed a more appropriate symbol of the current political climate, it’s the one that arrived on the front page of the Washington Post announcing the latest results from its polling unit. The headline was full of dire warnings for President Joe Biden: “Post-ABC poll: Biden faces criticism on economy, immigration and age.” Fair enough. But the subhead is one for the ages: “A finding that shows Trump leading Biden by a wide margin does not match other recent polling, however, suggesting it is an outlier.” Um…what? Does the Post mean to say its poll isn’t to be…

One of the cold realities technology has brought into our lives is how easy and efficient it is for various entities to gather information on just about every facet of our lives. And not just gather it but sell it, too. A recent study from the Mozilla Foundation looked at one burgeoning source of private information and found that not only are people unaware the data is being collected, but it’s also being sold to third parties and opened to government snoops and law enforcement with little to no fuss. That source of data: your car. From the report, we…

One of a long list of worries facing Democrats as they look ahead to the 2024 elections is public perception of the current administration’s economic record. According to a Sept. 13 Quinnipiac poll, the broad public view is that 60 percent disapprove of the way President Joe Biden is “handling the economy.” That’s usually the kind of economic reading that prompts campaign managers to rethink their life choices. But here’s the thing about these polling numbers and the long-run, underlying issue behind the economic discontent – inflation… The battle to tame inflation may be far from over. And the temptation…

The issue of Joe Biden’s age is the darkest, most persistent cloud that hangs over his reelection effort. So widespread is the fear that the octogenarian president is well past his sell-by date, and so broad is the public sentiment that Biden is too old for the job that it’s beginning to rattle – and rankle – Team Biden’s boosters. As the Washington Post reports: …Biden’s allies are frustrated by the hand-wringing from an anxious faction of the party, and even as campaign officials point to the president’s record of defying skeptics, they are strategizing internally about how to best…

The United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three automakers is, at one level, about wages. The union wants a 40 percent hike in pay – mirroring the hikes in pay and bonuses given to chief executives. While that labor action slowly unfolds, there’s the bigger story about wages across the labor force and whether they are keeping pace with inflation. The most recent government data show that, despite the pearl-clutching among some economic commentators about wage inflation, even with raises here and there, wages have failed to keep pace with rising prices for a third consecutive year. According to…

The federal government’s “Chips and Science Act,” which will throw hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money at private computer chip manufacturers over the next few years, is up, rolling and creating something of a taxpayer-subsidy arms race at the state level. As the Tax Foundation reports, state governments are opening their coffers wide to encourage chip makers to locate operations in their state. The reason: jobs and tax revenue, of course (but really, it’s all about the press releases politicians issue whenever they give a private company access to the public till). As the Tax Foundation notes: At…